God Keeps His Promises!

Good morning to all on this glorious Sunday morning. Waine and I are in Jamaica for a little R&R and it has been very restful. I think I am sleeping 12 hours a day and I surely needed this rest. We miss our practice though and we are both anxious to get back to it. ZOe Peds is like our child; Waine and I both nurture it and see that its taken care of. God continues to bless us through it and it has become a blessing to the community. I thank God for His ZOE and fir ZOe each day.

 

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah chapter 33 verses 1-26 " While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Word of the Lord came to him a second time:This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is His name: Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. ⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword in the fight with the Babylonians: ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the people I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness. Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it. This is what the Lord says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without people or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying, "Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; His love endures forever.” For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In this place, desolate and without people or animals—in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks.  In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord. The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior. For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices. The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore. The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two kingdoms He chose’? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the Lord says: ‘If I have not made my covenant with day and night and established the laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

 

God keeps His PROMISES!!! That is the take home message for me. In fact the Lord is telling Jeremiah, when you can separate the  functions of the Sun and the Moon then you can say that the Lord does not keep His promises. What a wonderful LOVE God has for His people. Even the disobedient Jews would be restored, not because they deserved it, but and only but, because God made a promise and would keep it. The Jews were suffering the consequences of their disobedience but would be restored because of the promise God made to Abraham. In fact in these verses God is foretelling the coming of Christ who would fulfill the Promise of restoration once and for all!

 

As Christians we are RESTORED into an everlasting relationship with God both here on earth and in Heaven. We have been restored into that loving relationship that Adam had before the fall. We can walk in God's Garden with God every  moment of every day because we are RESTORED. When you allow worry and consternation to rule your life, you are allowing Satan to blind you to your restoration. There is no worry and strife with God, only peace in the Garden of His love, compassion and mercy. Hallelujah. He is such a loving God! His overwhelming QUALITY is LOVE--never forget that. If you have worries in your life then go back to the BASICS of God's love for you so that you can be restored. Give thanks because God's love is forever. Nothing bad can happen to you; no misfortune can over take you even if when you bring calamity on to yourself; you are a child of God. Start acting like one and claim your inheritance and be LOVE just as God is LOVE. Get rid of what ever is separating you from the love of God. If you need to forgive somebody do so today. If you need to ask for forgiveness do so today. If you have other gods on the throne of your life get rid of them today. Get rid of anything that is separating you from basking in the sunshine of God's love!

 

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Stephanie